Sometimes, writing long content can feel like a drag. But it doesn’t have to be.

Just do plenty of research and put together a thorough outline before you start writing. Then it won’t be difficult to know what you’re going to discuss in the upcoming paragraphs.

Finally, to optimize your on-page SEO, you’ll want to include some internal links in each blog post.

Two or three links on each post that lead to other pages of your website should suffice. Just make sure that they’re in-text citations (rather than image attributions) since those count for more on Google.

All of those elements, from keyword optimization to word count, will prep your site for ranking like you want it to.

Formula #4: Generate backlinks

Backlinks are a great way to generate traffic to your website and increase your rankings at the same time.

Backlinks are simply links that point from someone else’s website to your website.

And they basically tell Google that the referring website trusts you, which, if that website has a high domain authority, is good for your rankings.

But how can you generate these valuable nuggets?

One tactic is to create an infographic and ask other blogs to share that infographic.

Choose a topic within your niche that you think will interest your audience. Ideally, choose something that is either driven by data or best practices.

Then, create your infographic for that piece of content. You can do it on your own by using the free infographic maker, Venngage.

Once you have a good-looking infographic, send an email to similar blogs that you think might be willing to share it with their audience.

You can use the email below as your template.

Hey, [name]!

My name is [name], and I’m the content marketer over at [website]. I’m a big fan of the content you put out, and I wanted to run something by you.

I just created an infographic for my own blog about [topic], and I thought it might also be relevant to your audience. I’ve attached the infographic for you to check out.

If you like it, I’d love for you to share it with your audience.

Otherwise, no worries 🙂

Let me know what you think of it!

[name]

The people who agree to share it will publish it on their blog and give you a free backlink. Voilá!

Another way that you can quickly and easily generate backlinks is by writing testimonials for other websites. When you do, just be sure to include a nice link back to your website.

Finally, you can repost your content on Medium and LinkedIn with a link to your website.

Be sure to monitor mentions of your brand with Ahrefs and ask for unlinked mentions to add a link to your site.

You can use this strategy as you guest blog for other websites, too.

All of these strategies are effective in their own right. You just need to decide which ones you have time for and which ones you don’t.

Formula #5: Target Google snippets

Have you ever typed a question into Google and received a result that looks something like this?

Well, as it turns out, these are called snippets, and there’s a science behind getting them.

The best part about them is that they push you to the number one result (also known as the coveted “position zero”) even if you’re not winning in the rankings otherwise.

It’s an easy way to push your result to the top of the page.

Here’s the best way to target them.

Think of a question in your industry that people are regularly typing into Google. Try something basic like, “What is digital marketing?” or “How to rank on Google?”

Then, in your content, have that exact phrase as a subtitle and answer the question as obviously as you can in the paragraphs directly after.

You’re trying to make it easy for Google to read your content robotically. That means that you need to organize it logically.

The other thing you can do is create checklist-type content like you see in the image above.

Numbered lists are notoriously good at snagging Google snippets because they are easy for the robots to read and understand.

The more that search engines can understand your content, the better chance that you’ll rank when people search, and the better chance that you’ll get your very own snippet.

Conclusion

You came here because you want to kickstart your rankings.

You’re either sick of having a website that never shows up on Google, or you’re wondering what it would take to start generating passive traffic.

After all, that’s what all website owners want, right?

They want to generate passive traffic to their website with very little effort.

Well, I can’t promise it will be easy, but I do promise you can do it if you put your mind to it.

And the way to do it is with these five formulas: use competitive analysis, get active on social media, leverage on-page elements, generate backlinks, and target Google snippets.

SEO is simply a matter of knowing the right strategies, putting in the work, and being patient.

If you do those things, you’ll climb to the top faster than most other websites.